Cárdenas, pioneering educator for Latinos, dies

José A. Cárdenas served as superintendent of Edgewood schools in the late 1960s and early ’70s on the heels of student-led walkouts that brought to light unqualified teachers, deteriorating facilities and unequal educational opportunity for its poor, Mexican American students.

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José A. Cárdenas (left) served as an Edgewood Independent School District superintendent, one of his many accomplishments. On the right is John Gatti.

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José A. Cárdenas wrote several books on education, including “Texas School Finance Reform — An IDRA Perspective” and “My Spanish-Speaking Left Foot,” and was IDRA’s director emeritus at the time of his death.

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José A. Cárdenas, former superintendent of Edgewood schools, chats at home with his wife of 33 years, Laura, on July 12, 2006. Cárdenas is now retired and recovering from a stroke suffered in late 2005.

Photo By Billy Calzada/gcalzada@express-news.net

José A. Cárdenas, former superintendent of Edgewood schools, looks over literature about Mayan culture at home on July 12, 2006. Cárdenas is now retired and recovering from a stroke suffered in late 2005.

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José A. Cárdenas served as superintendent of Edgewood schools in the late 1960s and early ’70s on the heels of student-led walkouts that brought to light unqualified teachers, deteriorating facilities and unequal educational opportunity for its poor, Mexican American students.

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José A. Cárdenas, a nationally recognized teacher, researcher and pioneer in the field of education for U.S. Latino children whose civil rights work zeroed in on educational justice and equity, has died.

An authority in school finance reform and early-childhood, multicultural and bilingual education, Cárdenas was found dead in his home Saturday.

He was remembered for pioneering educational approaches and programs now considered standard, including his theory of incompatibilities.

“He pioneered the idea that children who are bilingual learned differently,” longtime colleague Rosie Castro said. “It was a novel idea that the education culture had never looked at and was well proven out later. In the '60s and '70s, it was very new.”

Cárdenas, who was 80, suffered strokes in the past several years, son Dr. Michael Cardenas said, and never fully recovered.

A Laredo native, José Cárdenas started college at the University of Texas at Austin at 15. Described as brilliant, with a keen intellectual curiosity, UT named him a distinguished alumnus in 1997.

The José Cárdenas Early Childhood Center in the Edgewood Independent School District is named for him.

He served as superintendent of Edgewood schools in the late 1960s and early '70s on the heels of student-led walkouts that brought to light unqualified teachers, deteriorating facilities and unequal educational opportunity for its poor, Mexican American students.

He played a role in the landmark case brought by Edgewood parents against the state that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He testified in, or consulted on, more than 70 education-related civil rights cases.

“He always maintained that our first teachers are our parents,” he said, holding back tears, “and he was a very good teacher.”

Cárdenas wrote several books on education, including “Texas School Finance Reform — An IDRA Perspective” and “My Spanish-Speaking Left Foot,” and was IDRA's director emeritus at the time of his death. He was still actively engaging leaders in the field who continued to look to him for guidance.

“Dr. Cárdenas' legacy is one that would have all of us focus on children to provide them the best, highest-quality education and to do so without regard for the language they speak, the side of town they come from or the color of their skin,” Robledo Montecel said.

“Many of us throughout the country will remember him as a man who cared deeply about children, about education and about opportunities that education brings to young children.”

“He was an incredible thinker, intellectual and strategist,” said Castro, who taught in an early Cárdenas-inspired program that put teachers on the road to Michigan, following children of migrant cherry pickers, so that they wouldn't fall behind. “He was a real innovator.”

Cárdenas also was remembered as a civil rights activist who challenged the status quo.

“He spoke his mind, and he was a role model for so many educators that followed,” Castro said.

“His greatest contribution has been the huge number of young people who pursued their doctoral studies,” said retired educator Bambi Cárdenas, another longtime colleague. “It's hard to imagine the progress that would not have been made without his undaunting pursuit of that goal. His contributions will be hard to match.”

She remembered Cárdenas' visits to Edgewood school counselors in the early '70s in which he directed them — individually — to stop ranking students and concentrate on getting them into college and finding scholarships for them “to help our kids transition to college.”

“The word ‘transition' hadn't been used. His focus was to push the kids all the way to college,” she said.

Cárdenas initiated “schools within schools,” creating smaller populations of students so none would fall through cracks, and forged early initiatives to get 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds into preschool. He even reached out to low-income Hispanic homes of children as young as 18 months.

Bambi Cardenas said his Valued Youth Program, using older students with reading problems as tutors for young children, has “gained tremendous acceptance all over the world.”

“In terms of his integrity, su palabra era oro (his word was gold),” said Aurelio Montemayor, a senior staff member at IDRA. “He committed himself to educational justice for all children. His career was a straight line from there.”